Spotlight

Our oceans are in crisis. Overfishing, pollution, and habitat fragmentation are wearing down the health of ocean ecosystems. In a teleconference, attorneys Steve Mashuda and David Henkin discuss how Earthjustice is fighting to protect and build the resilience of our ocean ecosystems.

The Endangered Species Act is clear. Given the imperiled status of blueback herring and the lack of sufficient action by regulators to stem the decline of river herring, a threatened designation for blueback herring is now necessary to jump start recovery.

Ocean Ecosystems are on the Brink.

Humans depend on the ocean for food, commerce and inspiration—but overfishing, pollution and now climate change are presenting unprecedented threats to the marine ecosystem.

Industrial fishing fleets are decimating the forage fish species that are at the foundation of the ocean food web. This impacts salmon, tuna, swordfish, whales, sea birds and fishing communities who depend on a healthy ocean.

We're making waves and mobilizing citizens to build a more resilient ocean.

Earthjustice fights to end overfishing of forage fish in the Atlantic and Pacific—a critical piece of our organization’s overall strategy to build a more resilient ocean. Our long-term goal is to establish sustainable fisheries that feed people while keeping the ocean’s ecosystem intact.

We are building an army of ocean activists who advocate for strong state, regional and federal fisheries management. In court, our attorneys advocate for ecosystem-wide planning rather than fragmented, single-species regulations.

Earthjustice works with and for fishing communities to protect ocean ecosystems that can provide economic and recreational bounty forever—if managed properly.

Little fish (forage fish) play a huge role in the ocean ecosystem. Without healthy populations of small fish, the ocean's food web can collapse. Often called "the most important fish in the sea," the menhaden (also known as pogy or bunker) are a perfect example of a keystone species.

Attorney Andrea Treece discusses her work protecting forage fish species like herring, anchovies and sardines, which serve as the building blocks of the ocean food web and are being vacuumed out of the ocean at unsustainable levels.

Earthjustice, NRDC and a coalition of fishing and watershed protection groups filed a complaint today in federal court seeking to reverse a decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service not to list the blueback herring as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.